According to researchers at the
University of York, rising temperatures could wipe out more than
half of the earth's species in the next few centuries. The study
analyzed fossil records and temperature changes over 500 million
years, and found that when more than 50 percent of species
disappeared at different times in history, the extinction occurred
during periods of high temperatures. The UN Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change predicts that average global temperatures are
likely to rise between 1.8 and 4 degrees Celsius (3.2 and 7.2
Fahrenheit) by the end of the century, in part as result of
greenhouse gas emissions.

Animal agriculture contributes to
approximately 18% of global warming emissions, which accounts for more
green house gases than all vehicles produce. The transition to a
plant-base diet can help reduce the emission of global warming gases
and hopefully help decrease the rate of rising temperatures.